VILLAGE OF HAMBURG, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Hamburg Memorial Youth Center is packed with children playing sports and doing crafts every day after school, but the building itself is not so youthful.
"The building was built in 1923; it was an ice house, so before people had freezers and fridges, they had ice delivered from this building," said Josh Haeick, Recreation Supervisor for the Village of Hamburg.
In 1963, it became the youth center, and after years of being a hub of activity for kids, it's time for an upgrade. So New York State Assemblymember Jon Rivera and State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie came by with a check.
"I was told we were gonna get $100,000 in funding to make some improvements to the building," said Haeick. "I just am flabbergasted."
He was wrong. They got $1.4 million.
WATCH: 'Unbelievable': Village of Hamburg gets $1.4 million from NYS for youth center
"When you come into a place like this, where you know children are being connected to sports and sort of community, you know there's no better investment than that. Absolutely money well spent," said Rivera, who represents New York's 149th district.
Today, the first floor of the center has a game room and snack bar area for after-school programming Monday through Friday. The second floor includes storage rooms, a photography lab, a carpeted lounge with a computer lab and an arts and crafts room, in addition to providing rental opportunities for residents on weekends.
This funding will help them do a lot of things:
- Modernize the center
- Make it more accessible
- Get dozens of children off the waitlist
- Expand the building
